It has been proposed to place an RFID tag on or in a wall of a container to confirm the genuineness of the package that includes the container and/or to provide other information concerning the package or a product within the package. Such RFID tag can be secured to a wall of the container after fabrication of the container, embedded in a wall of the container during blow molding of the container, or assembled to a container preform in such a way that the tag will be embedded in a wall of the container following blow molding of the preform.
U.S. application Ser. No. 11/348,662 filed Feb. 7, 2006 discloses a method of making a plastic container having an RFID tag in a wall of the container by providing a mold that includes a mold core and mounting on the mold core an insert that includes an RFID tag. A plastic preform is formed in the mold around the mold core and the insert such that the insert is embedded in a wall of the preform. The preform can be blow molded into a plastic container having the insert embedded in a wall of the container.
The present disclosure embodies a number of aspects that can be implemented separately from or in combination with each other.
A plastic container, in accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure, has an open end and an imperforate container wall with a base, an outwardly open pocket in the container wall, and an RFID tag in a plastic housing disposed in the pocket. The housing containing the RFID tag preferably is captured in the pocket by blow molding the container wall around the housing. The pocket and housing preferably are disposed in the base of the container opposite the open end of the container, most preferably centrally of the base, and the housing preferably is visible in the container base through an external opening into the pocket.
A method of making a plastic container, in accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, includes providing a plastic container preform, placing the container preform in a blow mold and blowing the plastic preform within the blow mold to form a hollow plastic container. An RFID tag is placed on an actuator external to the blow mold and, prior to blowing the preform, the actuator is actuated and the RFID tag is placed within the blow mold so that the tag is molded into an external surface of the container during blow molding of the preform. The RFID tag preferably is molded into a pocket on the base of the container by molding the container base around the RFID tag such that the tag is visible through an opening into the pocket. The RFID tag preferably is disposed in a plastic housing having a wall, and the container is blown such that the container base material abuts the housing wall to form the opening through which the RFID tag housing is visible. In various exemplary embodiments of the disclosure, the RFID tag is placed within the blow mold by mounting the tag on an external surface of the container preform, preferably at the closed end of the container preform, by extending the actuator into the blow mold such that the end of the actuator forms part of the blow mold and the RFID tag is positioned adjacent to an inside surface of the blow mold, or by mounting the RFID tag on a movable segment of the blow mold and then moving the segment so that the tag is positioned within the blow mold.
A plastic container that includes an open end and an imperforate container base, an outwardly open pocket in the container base, and an insert disposed within the pocket.
A method of making a plastic container, which includes the steps of:                (a) providing a plastic container preform,        (b) placing the plastic container preform in a blow mold,        (c) blowing the plastic container preform within the blow mold to form a hollow plastic container,        (d) placing an insert having a wall on an actuator external to the blow mold, and        (e) prior to the step (c) actuating the actuator and placing the insert within the blow mold so that the insert is molded into an outwardly open pocket of the container during the step (c) when container material is blown against the insert wall which forms a dam against flow of container material around the insert and forms an opening into the pocket through which the insert is visible.        